pain specialist | Arthritis Information

 

was a complete waste of time. he said he cant give me any better meds for pain managment and the only thing he can do is send me to acupuncture or physical therapy. Im all for PT, but I dont think it iwll help me any considering I am very active AND have done PT before...it helps with mobility in my opinion not pain-at least not in my case. Acupuncture-I personally dont believe in it. I know it helps many many people, I am just too scientific minded and dont see the reasoning behind it, but its my only thing to try, so im giving it a try 8 sessions then ill see how I feel. boo that was so disapointing i am in such a bad mood. my joints hurt, all i want to do is slam my head against a wall When is your injection? The doctor I am going to is called a Physical Medicine doctor. I hope I am not as disapointed when I get home.

What did your RD say? When do start your biologic? Also don't bang your head against the wall. Then you will just have a head ache. I always say I am so frustrated that my head is going to explode. My son says don't do it. If you do you have to clean up the mess.LM, I am sorry!  Don't give up.  Go back to your RD or your PCP if you are not satisfied with the acupuncture.  Maybe it is just a med adjustment and it can be worked out.  I agree with Milly on the head banging thing, you have enough headaches! 
LittleMermaid,   If the pain is severe enough for a pain specialist to intervene then it might be time to seriously consider an adjustment to your RA meds or even consider going on to Remicade.  What has your RD discussed with you?  LindyAARRGGHHH-I hate that for you. There is stuff that can be done. Is there anyway you can see someone else?   I love my pain dr. And he has been a lifesaver. Especially since you are young and need to be able to function, go to school, oh and...maybe have a life? I am switching from enbrel to remicade, I dont have an official start date, but hopefully soon. i dont see what else they can do for me. i dont want to be on narcotis, all the drugs havnt worked for me, im active, but tired and in pain all the time what else is there fore them to do?They can start Remicade, adjust MXT, add another DMARD.  You still have wiggle room with the drugs.  You're not at the end of the line, and who knows the next one may be the magic med that works for you.  They can give you a burst pak or start you on Pred. and you can take  pain med. until Remicade starts helping.  You don't have to be in so much pain that it interferes with you daily living and quality of life.  You need to discuss all of this with your RD.  You can start Remicade, Pred. small dose, MXT and add another dmard to help boost the Remicade, and a pain med.  The Pred and pain med will be short term till Remicade kicks in.  Combo therapy has shown to be more effective than mono therapy.  I was on 3 dmards with a biologic.  I know many people that are on 3 and in some cases 4 dmards.  As long as you have pain and inflammation then damage is occuring.  I know how frustrating all of this is but like you say above "tie a knot and hang on"   Lindyi AM on methotrexate-it doesnt help but i stay on it since its supposed to help everything else. I AM on pain meds-tramadol-doctors dont want to give me narcotics and i dont want to take them, ive tried the other pain stuff too like lyrica, anti depressants, flexeril... ive tried pretty much everything, my doctor doesnt believe orencia will work for me, and will not put me on rituxan. at this point the only med i have that works is prednisone, but I am not taking it, as i feel it will cause more problems than I already have. I dont have joint damage, my sed rate has been normal for years, as has the rest of my blood work, and I rarely have inflamation. so its just pain. pain pain pain i dont want to destroy my body more because of it i want actemra, i want it to be my miracle drug so bad, but i have been on so many meds and none of them have worked that many doctors have said I dont have RA. Actemra I will have to look that one up? Why do you think you want it? Why won't they let you have it?its not out yet, and it looks promisingWell I guess we can wait together.

I don't know the dose of MXT that you're on but it can be increased in increment doses up to 25mg. weekly and he can add another dmard to the mix.  That might be enough with Remicade to help you.  Sounds like you have sero-negative and if no damage then AP therapy might help you.  I'm sort of waiting around for the new drugs to be released.  We can form this little waiting group!  Lindy

Sorry for your disappointment lil mermaid. Maybe this pain specialist is not the right one- are there any others you can try? It doesn't sound like they were any good in their field at all. don't forget that cimizia and simponi have both just been approved for RA...acterma could be a long and fruitless wait.  You have to deal with the here and now not.  Yes acterma looks promising but it is also having serious approval problems.  My pain dr. has been extremely helpful. The nerve block injections have really helped pain wise. He also worked with me to find a med that will allow me to sleep at night. You have to sleep when you have chronic pain. It's how the body resets itself.

I was also very anti pain med. Do due the complications recently, I have been taking percocet regularly. I have fought the pain med issue for years. I didn't see how I would be able to raise my little boy and teach full time while "doped" up. My dr. made me realize that chronic pain patients don't get the "high" that others do-we just get pain relief. I was afraid of the stigma associated with pain relief. im on 15mg of methotrexate but i was on 30mg for at least a year and i felt like it wasnt doing anything and then my liver enzymes were wierd and i was loosing hair, soooo i went down to 15mg.....

i guess ill wait and see on the new meds, but for now i am working on starting remicade.

its not really about my joints im just in an awfull mood and its effecting my judgement of everything, life just sucks. i am in such a bad mental place right now, i dont even want to see the positiveWell don't stay in that dark place to long, it isn't healthy. I know that place. This disease stinks. It is horrible. It is horribly unfare. Take your prednisone and feel better. You are not making things better sweetie. The pain is fogging your judgement. All of my hugs to you. its not even about my joints this is me, me in my bad, mad, place i take meds for this stuff too, im sure its related to all my health problems, but its related to many other things to. ive been home to long without anything productive to do, im trying to make a list of things to do tomorrow so thati can get out of this funk. Yes get out of the room tomorrow and that should help. Fresh air and people. If it should happen to rain get on the forum and try to help others. At the very least get up and fix yourself up. Try to make it a day out of bed. Buy some fresh fruit or something. Anything.You are young and freshly out of school. That has to be difficult. I bet it is hard for you to know what to do with your time. Thats a big change. I personally do not do well with change either. If you think it is just deppression you can call and have those meds adjusted also. As much as I want to help, I am not a proffessional. Hugs feel better. We are all always here for you and we care very very much.thanks, im out of school, for the summer. i start work on monday, which will be good, i need structure. im bad at change and have anxiety, depression blah blah those issues as well and am currently without therapist which is not good. so yea, i miss my friends at school. im lonelier at homeWell Monday isn't to far away. Still a new inviornment.  I would be havibg a great deal of anxiety. Well It's just for the summer, time will fly by once you get to work. You could hang out with me but I am sort of old and boring by nature. LOLI know it is not the same thing but you can email your freinds and text them. I am sure you do.Well make the best of your free time before you start work. I know hard to do with RA. Believe me I know. I miss out on alot of stuff. I start work next week wooopeeee. i talk to my friends everday and i guess before i know it ill be back at school for my last year of undergrad

my joints hurt awfull today but im in a bit of a better mood.
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